296: Difficulty upgrade

Hello, my name is Shen Ning.

This guy is Shen Ning?

The person who was just chatting with Shen Ning watched him take out his jade token and hand it to the staff, then enter the arena, and was instantly dumbfounded.

How can this person be so shameless!

"You brat! To play us for fools like this!"

"Does this guy Cultivate the Dao of Thick Skin? To be able to Cultivate his skin to such a thickness is truly rare in the Cultivation world!"

"I'd like to see how Shen Ning, this clown, gets crushed by all these Geniuses!"

Jiang Ning listened, his heart completely unmoved.

He had seen this kind of trope—being mocked by the crowd first, then delivering a resounding slap to their faces—many times in novels.

Such things had no effect on him.

Jiang Ning looked at the sky outside and thought, it's almost Mao Shi.

He suddenly found it strange that he was having such thoughts.

When he first arrived in the Cultivation world, he mainly relied on asking, "Huanhuan, what time is it now?" to tell the time.

Now, he had completely adapted to life in the Cultivation world and could independently determine the time based on the angle of the sun and the tilt of shadows.

A moment later.

An old man with a youthful complexion and white hair descended from the upper levels of the Spirit Pill Hall.

He rode a white crane, his white robes fluttering, looking like an Immortal.

As soon as he appeared, the entire Spirit Pill Hall erupted.

"Look! That's Elder Elixir Patrol, a Great Master who can refine sixth-grade Medicinal Pills!"

"It's said he's the candidate for the next Hall Master of the Spirit Pill Hall!"

"If Elder Elixir Patrol is the judge, wouldn't it be too unfair to others? After all, he is Pill Minister's teacher."

"What are you thinking? The final rankings are all jointly assessed; how could one person decide?"

As everyone discussed, Jiang Ning saw five more people descend from above.

Among these five, there were three men and two women, all appearing quite young, but judging by their temperament, which was steady yet carried a certain "elderly" aura, Jiang Ning knew that their actual age would not be small.

After these five arrived, they directly sat in the arranged seats and then nodded to Elixir Patrol.

These were the five Directors of the Spirit Pill Hall.

Although these five Directors were not the Peak Alchemists of the Spirit Pill Hall, they held a portion of its power. Even if their Alchemy Technique was inferior to Elixir Patrol's, Elixir Patrol still had to show them some deference.

These Directors came from entirely different Families.

On the stage.

The five Directors instantly scanned the arena.

They all came from prominent Families. Participating in the Spirit Pill Hall was merely to improve their Alchemy Technique, but if a junior from their Family could enter the Spirit Pill Hall, they would still offer some assistance.

Yun Qingqing saw one of the very mature-looking women among the five Directors on the stage and shyly lowered her head.

The disciples of other Families did the same.

Jiang Ning could categorize them.

Those Family disciples protected by Directors held their heads high, flaunting their origins and their starting points.

"Everyone, quiet down!"

Elixir Patrol spoke after the five Directors had taken their seats.

Elixir Patrol, standing on the white crane, waved his wide sleeve, and books flew towards the contestants present.

Jiang Ning reached out and caught one.

He placed it on the table and looked at it; it only had the three characters "Alchemy Technique" written on it.

Jiang Ning let out an "Oh?" and quickly flipped through it.

"This Alchemy Technique definitely isn't just the name on the surface. Doing it this way is probably to prevent everyone from associating content based on the name."

Many Alchemy Techniques, and even many Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills, are named according to their internal content.

Just like the 'Myriad Beast Illustrated Record' he bought for the little girl earlier and the 'Hundred Beasts Form Intent' she is currently practicing, one glance tells you they are related to Spirit Beasts.

"But it's not certain; perhaps the Alchemy Techniques used in the new recruit assessment each month are different."

Jiang Ning stopped thinking about it.

Aboard the white crane.

Elixir Patrol, with his Immortal-like demeanor, spoke with a clear and hearty laugh:

"Everyone, welcome to the new recruit assessment organized by the Spirit Pill Hall.

As before, the Spirit Pill Hall's assessment item is still Comprehension Ability, but today, Geniuses gather, so the Spirit Pill Hall has decided to increase the difficulty.

In the past, after the Spirit Pill Hall distributed the Alchemy Technique, contestants would be given three days to read and comprehend it.

This time, the time given to comprehend the Alchemy Technique will be one day!"

As his words fell, everyone was shocked.

"One day?"

"My goodness, let alone an Alchemy Technique, give me a Martial Skill, and I can't even guarantee I can finish reading it in one day. They have to comprehend something in one day? That's too hard!"

"It is indeed difficult, and most importantly, they need to comprehend something and then manifest those insights into Medicinal Pills. That's the hardest part!"

"Is this the world of Geniuses? Honestly, for a Cultivation Technique, even if you give me seven days, I might not comprehend anything, and this is an Alchemy Technique!"

It wasn't just the audience who were shocked.

Even the participating Family Genius disciples were stunned.

"Heavens, one day?!"

"Are they crazy? What could possibly be comprehended in that time!"

"Isn't this rule set for top Geniuses like Pill Minister?"

"Heh heh, it's good that you know. This new recruit assessment was originally a special event for them. Didn't you have such an expectation when you chose to participate?"

"No one should laugh at anyone else. Everyone here has thought of stepping on others to use them as stepping stones, haven't they?"

"Let alone us Family disciples, look over there, that passerby even wants to put on a show."

Everyone looked at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning: ...Why are you looking at me?

When I take first place, I'll scare you all to death!

As soon as Mao Shi arrived.

Elixir Patrol raised his hand and released a brilliant fireworks display.

He solemnly said, "New recruit assessment, begin!"

The participating contestants stopped whispering and began to earnestly read the distributed Alchemy Techniques.

Fun is fun, mischief is mischief, but don't joke about the assessment.

They didn't come this time to get first place, but if they could squeeze into the top five, it would still be considered making a name for themselves among Geniuses.

Jiang Ning was no exception.

However, he wasn't very interested in the new recruit assessment; he was here for the Alchemy Technique.

Jiang Ning opened the first page.

He looked at it, then directly pulled out his Pill Furnace.

The jade void cauldron made a "duang" sound as it appeared.

The spectators were puzzled, "What exactly does this Shen Ning want to do?"

"He can't comprehend it, so he's just putting on a show."

People who looked down on Jiang Ning said this.

"Heh heh."

Someone sneered, looking down on these "outsiders" who were blindly discussing here.

Initially, these people were somewhat unconvinced.

What are you 'heh'-ing about? 'Heh' your mom!

However, the next second, they saw that among the contestants, Pill Minister, Yun Qingqing, Xu Sheng, and other disciples from top Alchemy Families also pulled out their Pill Furnaces.

"Ah, this... they comprehended it so quickly and are already preparing for Alchemy?"

The person who had just sneered explained, "For an Alchemist, feeling the profundities of an Alchemy Technique while simultaneously practicing and verifying those profundities is the fastest way to master an Alchemy Technique.

Of course, it doesn't rule out some with Heaven-Defying Comprehension Ability who can simply sit there and construct a grand Pill Furnace in their minds, then meticulously process the Medicinal Pills, but these are always a minority."

Everyone suddenly understood.